FA-NEWSLETTER: Credit Hour Equivalency Update, yet again

As Provost meetings on Credit Hour Equivalencies progress, I am writing with an update on the process. One issue that Faculty members have asked about repeatedly is including ranges of credit hour equivalency for particular duties, rather than specific equivalencies. While the details will vary from department to department, Addendum B in our contract clearly states that amendments should contain “complete and specific criteria for credit hour equivalencies for contact hours and/or for indirect teaching.” (Addendum B., section A). Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a specific “range of equivalencies.” We have also received several requests for approved CHE models. If you would like to see a copy of an amendment approved at the Provost’s level, or have questions about issues raised in your meeting with the Provost, please contact our Credit Hour Equivalency point-person Ryan Netzley, at ranetzley@gmail.com.
Dear Colleagues,

As Provost meetings on Credit Hour Equivalencies progress, I am writing with an update on the process. One issue that Faculty members have asked about repeatedly is including ranges of credit hour equivalency for particular duties, rather than specific equivalencies. While the details will vary from department to department, Addendum B in our contract clearly states that amendments should contain “complete and specific criteria for credit hour equivalencies for contact hours and/or for indirect teaching.” (Addendum B., section A). Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a specific “range of equivalencies.” We have also received several requests for approved CHE models. If you would like to see a copy of an amendment approved at the Provost’s level, or have questions about issues raised in your meeting with the Provost, please contact our Credit Hour Equivalency point-person Ryan Netzley, at ranetzley@gmail.com.

To clarify the next steps in the process: If your department doesn’t reach an agreement with the Provost on a modified amendment, your department’s amendment will be negotiated by 5-person bargaining teams from the Faculty Association and the University, beginning in March. A Faculty representative from the department will be able to attend the bargaining session(s) concerning their amendment as a consultant to the Association team. Any amendments that are not agreed upon in the bargaining process will then go to an arbitration panel made up of three people from outside the University (one appointed by the FA, one appointed by the Administration, and an arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association). The decision of that panel will be final.

The Faculty Association is committed to ensuring Faculty participation in the bargaining process, and our goal is to complete that phase before summer break (although at this point, since we do not know how many amendments will be negotiated, we can’t predict the full length of the process). We are also committed to supporting departments in the decisions they make as part of this process because it is the Faculty members who have the expertise and qualifications necessary to evaluate these matters.